Patrolling the Texas border

Illegal immigration in Texas

Amid the ongoing immigration debate, Getty Images photographer John Moore shows us the Border Patrol and who they are detaining in the Rio Grande valley of southeast Texas.

Salvadorian immigrant Stefany Marjorie, 8, holds her doll, Rodrigo, after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States with her family near Mission, Texas, July 24, 2014. Tens of thousands of families and unaccompanied minors have crossed illegally into the United States this year, causing a humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. The Rio Grande sector has the highest traffic of illegal immigration, especially of Central Americans, on all the U.S.-Mexico border.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

A suspected smuggler allegedly brings undocumented Salvadorian immigrants, most of them minors, across the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States in Mission, Texas, July 24, 2014.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

A man returns to the Mexican side of the border after washing his horse in the Rio Grande at the U.S.-Mexico border at dusk near Mission, Texas, July 24, 2014. Texas's Rio Grande Valley has become the epicenter of the latest immigrant crisis, as more immigrants, especially Central Americans, cross illegally from Mexico into that sector than in any other stretch of the America's 1,933 mile border with Mexico.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

A helicopter pilot with the Office of Air and Marine (part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection) patrols over the Rio Grande at the U.S.-Mexico border in McAllen, Texas, July 21, 2014. Thousands of immigrants, many of them minors from Central America, have crossed illegally into the United States this year, causing an unprecendented humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. Texas Governor Rick Perry announced that he will send 1,000 National Guard troops to help stem the flow.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

Central American immigrants await transportation to a U.S. Border Patrol processing center after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into the Texas near Mission, Texas, July 24, 2014. Tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants, many of them families or unaccompanied minors, have crossed illegally into the United States this year and presented themselves to federal agents, causing a humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. The Rio Grande Sector of the border has the heaviest traffic of illegal crossings of the entire U.S.-Mexico border.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

A U.S. Office of Air and Marine helicopter patrols over the Rio Grande at the U.S.-Mexico border in McAllen, Texas, July 21, 2014.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

Central American immigrants await transportation to a U.S. Border Patrol processing center after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into the Texas near Mission, Texas.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

Honduran undocumented immigrant Laura Fabio, 2, waits for her mother after they crossed the Rio Grande illegally into the United States on July 24, 2014 in Mission, Texas. Like most of the recent surge of Central American immigrant women and children, they brought documents, often birth certificates, to prove their nationality to U.S. Border officials.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

Undocumented immigrants walk through Texas before being apprehended by Border Patrol agents in Falfurrias, Texas, July 21, 2014.

Illegal immigration in Texas

Illegal immigration in Texas

Items left behind by undocumented immigrants lie on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande River on July 24, 2014 near Mission, Texas.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

Refuse left by undocumented immigrants lies on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande River on July 24, 2014 near Mission, Texas.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

Items left behind by undocumented immigrants lies on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande River on July 24, 2014 near Mission, Texas. Tens of thousands of families and unaccompanied minors have crossed illegally into the United States this year, causing a humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

U.S. Border Patrol agents look for immigrants crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico, left, to the United States at dusk on July 24, 2014 near Mission, Texas.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

An undocumented immigrant awaits transportation to a processing center after being detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents some 60 miles north of the U.S. Mexico border on July 23, 2014 near Falfurrias, Texas. He was one of a group of immigrants Customs and Border Protection agents caught moving north through dense brushland in Brooks County.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

An undocumented immigrant awaits transport to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing center after being detained on July 22, 2014 near Falfurrias, Texas.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

U.S. Border Patrol agents search an undocumented immigrant after taking him into custody on July 22, 2014 near Falfurrias, Texas.

Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigration in Texas

Undocumented immigrants are transported to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing center after being detained on July 22, 2014 near Falfurrias, Texas.